Tooling around mid-town Manhattan Streets in the 2011 Chevy Volt is not a life-changing experience, but the experience of driving it does give me some confidence that the electric car could change a few lives.

After four years of development, and a near dismantling of the whole project when General Motors went through bankruptcy and full restructuring in 2009, the electric car, or as GM calls it, the "electric vehicle with extended range," finally arrives at select North America Chevy dealers before the end of 2010.

Like many next-generation fuel-efficient cars, the Volt won't come cheap. The four-door sedan will list for $41,000 (there's also a leasing option: $350 a month/36 mo. with $2500 down). There will be some relief on the price-tag front: the electric vehicle qualifies for a $7,500 tax credit.

Despite the controversy surrounding the Volt: Is it a true "electric" vehicle? Is it actually a "hybrid" like the Prius? I've come away convinced that this is the real, electric deal.

It has a huge battery, which takes four hours to charge. The electric motor is powered by the battery. You can drive for 40 miles or so on pure battery power. If you coast or go downhill (think no acceleration), the wheels of your car can serve to help charge the battery backup. At some point however, after 40 miles or so of driving, the gas-powered motor will kick in. According to Stephen Marlin, GM's Manager of Advanced Technology Demonstration, that motor, which sucks gas from a 9.6 gallon tank is not physically connected to the electric motor driving the car. Instead, it's there to act as a generator that recharges the battery. With the engine kicking in to recharge ever-so-often, the Volt can, according to GM representatives, drive about 350 miles.

By contrast, a hybrid vehicle like the Toyota Prius, will occasionally use its gas engine to propel the vehicle. I've ridden in a Prius and can actually hear when this switchover is happening. As for the electric Nissan Leaf, it's a fully electric car that does not charge while driving via a separate motor. Recent reviews put the Leaf's range at around 100 miles.

I quizzed Marlin on how long a full-tank of gas would last: "That's the newness of this. It's really hard to put a number on that," said Marlin. Most people (roughly 70%), Marlin explained, drive 40 miles per day, which would not eat into the gas. Interestingly, the Volt is designed to force the gas depletion if you haven't driven for 45 days or haven't filled up in 12 months. 12 months!

Marlin explained that the 45 days cycle is really designed to keep the gas motor healthy and make sure the gas has not gone stale inside the Volt's pressurized tank. Since it's possible, according to Marlin, to fill up once in 12 months, the Volt will, in this circumstance, use the motor enough during a drive to bring the gas tank down to a quarter of the tank, thus forcing a refill.

GM representatives couldn't go into detail on the CPUs or platform driving the car's computers. However, Marlin did say there are lots of lines of code and many modules operating the various Volt systems. He did allow that the technology inside the Chevy Volt is "very software intensive," adding, "There's lots we can do with software to make [the Volt] operate more efficiently."

As for the test drive in the city, it was mostly unremarkable. The most interesting part of the experience is how it begins. There's no ignition key. Instead you have the fob to unlock the car and a big blue button to turn the Volt on.

The Volt features two large screens on its dash that can tell you a lot about what's going on with the car. There's the dashboard screen, which doesn't have a physical speedometer. Instead, there's a big graphic telling you how fast you're going, how far you can get and other trip details. The second screen is a touch screen that serves multiple purposes. You can set it to show you when the car is using electricity and when it's charging, or use it to control the radio, navigate via GPS or see what's behind you when you reverse.

Driving the Volt didn't feel particularly "electric". It had ample pep. Smooth handling and solid, if slightly mushy, brakes. I never detected a hint of engine noise from the transmission-less Volt, even when accelerating. GM execs said the Volt can go for 0-to-60 MPH in roughly 8.8 seconds.

General Motors expects most consumers to charge the Volt overnight via a 240 V outlet (one of those big numbers you use for your washing machine or dryer). When my 15 minute drive was done, Marlin told me that each charge should cost the average consumer $1.50, which is roughly $45 a month. Not a bad deal, especially is you only fill the tank once a year.

Be sure to check out my slideshow for a look inside and around the car and to drive along with me (and see my near collision[!]) watch the video.

A 25-year industry veteran and award-winning journalist, Lance Ulanoff is the former Editor in Chief of PCMag.com.
Lance Ulanoff has covered technology since PCs were the size of suitcases, ?on line? meant ?waiting? and CPU speeds were measured in single-digit megahertz. He?s traveled the globe to report on a vast array of consumer and business technology.
While a digital veteran, Lance spent his early years writing for newspapers and magazines. He?s been online since 1996 and ran Web sites for three national publications: HomePC, Windows Magazine...
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